Jember Regency is a region in East Java, Indonesia, known for its rich agricultural potential, cultural diversity, and growing academic and industrial sectors. Covering an area of approximately 3,293 square kilometers, Jember is situated in the southeastern part of East Java, bordered by Probolinggo and Bondowoso to the north, Banyuwangi to the east, Lumajang to the west, and the Indian Ocean to the south.
Jember has a predominantly agricultural economy, with coffee, tobacco, and cocoa as its main commodities. The region is particularly famous for its Jember tobacco, which is widely used for high-quality cigar wrappers. In addition, Jember is a hub for agro-industries and research, hosting institutions such as the University of Jember, which plays a significant role in agricultural innovation and development.
Tourism in Jember is also developing, with attractions such as Papuma Beach, Payangan Beach, and the Tancak Waterfall drawing visitors. The regency is also home to the Jember Fashion Carnival (JFC), an internationally recognized event showcasing extravagant and creative costumes inspired by Indonesian culture.
With a mix of natural beauty, economic significance, and academic excellence, Jember Regency continues to evolve as an important region in East Java, contributing to Indonesia’s agricultural and cultural landscape.
Language
Indonesia, with its more than 600 ethnic groups, is certainly rich of cultural and linguistics diversities. Most Indonesians are bilingual and many are trilingual, speaking Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian Language), the national language, at least one vernacular language, and probably another language of a foreign root such as Arabic, English, or Chinese. Jember is a Pandalungan, a fusion or hybrid of cultures, city, mainly of Javanese and Madurese. Most Jemberese speaks Java-nese with some Madurese accent and adapted/adopted vocabularies and vice versa, with some added features specific to this region in their day-to-day life, and Bahasa Indonesia in the formal occasions. There are also speakers of few other vernacular languages in this city.
Time
Indonesia is divided into three time zones, i.e. the Western Indonesian Time (WIB or Waktu Indonesia Bagian Barat), Middle Indo-nesian Time (WITA or Waktu Indonesia Bagian Tengah), and Eastern Indonesian Time (WIT or Waktu Indone-sia Bagian Timur). Jember is located in Java Island and belongs to the Western In-donesian Time (WIB) or the often so-called Jakarta Time (GMT +7).
Culture
Indonesia is a culturally diverse country with more than 600 ethnic groups and 620 vernacular languages. Therefore, visitors can expect to meet Indonesian people with different culture and cus-toms and speaking different vernacular lan-guages. Jember, located on the east of Java Indo-nesia, is a Pandalungan city or a city with fusion or hybrid of culture mainly Javanese and Madu-rese. Therefore, Jemberese embraces the culture of both ethnic groups with some influences from other groups. For example, the traditional cos-tumes, batiks, food, music, art, and customs.
Etiquette
With regard to etiquette, it is generally consid-ered unacceptable to use our left hand for eating, handing something to someone or receiving things from someone, pointing at something, and shake people’s hands. Therefore, we need to avoid using our left hands for those purposes.
In most universities in Indonesia, students are usually forbidden to wear T-shirts, shorts, and flip flops to attend classes, to visit the library and other university offices. Students are expected to wear clothes with collars and trousers for both male and female, skirts for females, and shoes. All types of shoes are acceptable for this purpose.
Food & Drinks
As a Pandalungan city, Jember is rich in culinary diversity which can pamper those with sweet tooth or those craving for savoury dishes. Jember is home to a lot of warungs, cafes, bakeries and restaurants offering both traditional, foreign and fusion foods and drinks. Jember University is surrounded by food courts with diverse warungs in them, cafes, bakeries and restaurants offering diverse food such as nasi pecel, gudeg, rawon, traditional fried chicken, western-style fried chicken, pizzas, burgers, noodles, kebabs, Arabic food, nasi Padang serving the infamous beef rendang, and many more. Visitors can ex-plore the diverse food, but need to be cautious as some can be too spicy for them. It is advised that they find out the spiciness level be-fore ordering the food. Ordering food and drinks from home is also super easy and convenient with the availability of many food order-ing applications such as Grabfood (Grab), Gofood (Gojek), Shopeefood (Shopee), and Bangjek. Most faculties in Jember Univer-sity also provide canteen and cafeteria to provide easy access to food and drink for students and staffs.
Student Counselling
As you move into a different country, it may be difficult to fit in and adapt to lo-cal customs and culture, especially when you are moving in for the first time. Cul-ture shock is commonly experienced by a new university student, even by local stu-dents who previously lived in a different region or province as Indonesia has a rich and diverse culture. Some common symptoms of culture shock are feeling lonely and isolated, withdrawal from social activities, hostility towards other cultures, diso-rientation, etc. These symptoms may vary in each person. Student counselling is a program to help students solve their problems and to optimize students ability in performing daily activities independently.
Transportation, Climate, and Public Facilities in Jember
Jember offers convenient transportation options, including Notohadinegoro Airport (JBB) with flights to Surabaya (Recently very limited and not everyday), Jember Train Station for intercity travel (most famous transportation intercities), and ride-hailing services like Gojek and Grab for local transport. The city has a tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 24–32°C, a dry season (May–October), and a rainy season (November–April). Essential facilities include hospitals, supermarkets, banks, and shopping malls, while students can enjoy parks, sports centers, and nearby beaches, making Jember a comfortable and vibrant place to study.
Things to do in and around Jember
- Visiting Renteng Plantation and learning about chocolate making, enjoying the scenic view and shopping for chocolates and souve-nirs.
- Going for a picnic in Galaxy Mini Resort
- Exploring Meru Betiri Wildlife Reserve to see the wild buffalo and other endangered animals
- Going shopping and sightseeing in Roxy, Lippo, Transmart Shop-ping Malls
- Learning about tobacco in the Museum of Tobacco Jember
- Camping in Jenggawah Hill Eco Tourism, Seger Nusantara, or Ra-yap Plantation
- Relaxing and enjoying the view of Jember City from Rembangan Resort
Tourism Places in and around Jember
